Nakd Bars!

Happy New Year! If you're like me, you've probably got plenty of health-related resolutions to uphold. As always, I'm hoping to eat more whole foods and work raw meals in more often. Don't worry — I'm not giving up fried tofu and fake meat. Just hoping to eat with better balance.

One way to do that is with super-healthy raw fruit & nut bars. For years, the only one I knew of was Larabar, and those are awesome. But a girl needs some variety. So I was thrilled with Natural Balance Foods, a UK-based company, offered to send me some of their Nakd healthy cereal bars to review.

Isn't this the cutest sampler box?

There was one of each flavor, all of which are made with a few simple ingredients — dates, nuts (usually cashews), raisins, cocoa (in some bars), and fruit. That's it! There's no added sugar or syrups.

Check out all these flavors!

I couldn't resist trying Ginger Bread first. It was just after Thanksgiving, so it seemed the perfect seasonal bar. It's made with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon and tastes like the holidays. Oh, and it has pecans instead of cashews.

I haven't had time to sample each one, but I've worked my way through about half the box so far. I started with the crunch bars because those had the lowest calorie count (right around 100), and I've scaled back my running mileage a bit for December, so I didn't need the higher calorie bars just yet (FYI though, the other bars aren't that high calorie. I don't think any exceed 150 calories).

The crunch bars have all the same dates, cashews, and fruit stuff, but they also have soya crunchies. I loved the crunch! The Banana Cruch was my fave of the crunch bars!

Of the cocoa bars I've sampled so far, I loved the Cocoa Orange the most because orange and chocolate just belong together. The line of cocoa bars contain around 5 to 6% natural cocoa.

But my very favorite Nakd bar was the Rhubarb & Custard! It had a texture that was slightly more moist than the other bars. I guess that's the custard part. It's just made with dates, raisins, and cashews, but I think the cashew content is higher, giving it a creamier mouth feel.

Even though the company is based in the U.K., their bars are readily available in the States too. There's a USA website where we can order, and right now, the Nakd Sampler Box is only $9.99, which is 40 percent off! So get over there and get your healthy resolutions started!